


hands softer than marble

by aryelee



Series: The Senpai Collection [2]
Category: Notice Me Senpai! (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Fights, M/M, injuries, slight gore but mostly just blood, some refs to greek mythology bc i have no self-control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-15 23:30:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8077534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryelee/pseuds/aryelee
Summary: Ai was used to being targeted by bullies and guys looking to feel better about themselves by beating him up. Sure, he could fight back, but what was the point? He could shoot an arrow with deadly accuracy, but his arrows were harmless. So yeah, he's used to being targeted.What he's not used to is being saved. Or having his savior get into a fist fight for him. Or have his savior be a well known delinquent with orange hair.





	

**Author's Note:**

> im tired and i cant believe i wrote more
> 
> here u go. enjoy the trash
> 
> remember that you can ask for any of the senpais and i'll write them for u

Wakatoshi’s chest rapidly moved up and down as he heaved for breath. A glare was fixed on his face as he watched the attacker run away with a black eye and bruised cheek. A dark feeling of satisfaction spread through him as he watched the other student disappear around the corner of the school. Sure that he wasn’t going to come back, Wakatoshi let his fists uncurl and his hands hang limply by his sides. He took a deep breath, then turned around.

Ai was looking up at him from the ground, pieces of his bow in each hand, snapped in half like a wishbone. His eyes were wide and shining with gratitude and awe, making Wakatoshi relieved that he didn’t scare Ai by fighting the guy who broke his bow and mocked him.

“You okay?” he asked, crouching down so he didn’t tower above Ai.

For a moment, Ai stared at Wakatoshi, a pink blush settling high on his cheeks. “Oh, yes!” he said, snapping out of his frozen state and looking away. “Thank you for defending me. You didn’t have to.”

“Of course I had to, he was going to hurt you,” Wakatoshi argued, a frown pulling on his lips.

Ai bit his lip and ducked his head, hiding his face from view as he mumbled, “You really didn’t need to. No one bothers with saving me.”

“Hey, don’t be saying those things. You’re worth saving, why would you ever think otherwise?”

He shrugged and looked up at Wakatoshi, who was taller than him even when sitting on his knees. “Have you seen me? I’m that weird kid running around as Cupid in an all boy’s school. Why would they defend me?”

Wakatoshi sighed, then stood and brushed the dirt off his knees. “Come on,” he said, holding out his hand to Ai. A beat passed before Ai transferred one of the bow pieces to his other hand and grabbed the offered on. Wakatoshi easily pulled him up to his feet. They both stumbled back a few steps, and ended up almost chest to chest. The blush had returned to AI’s cheeks as he stared into Wakatoshi’s eyes, breath caught in his throat and thoughts turning into blank marble.

Flustered, Ai moved his gaze away from Wakatoshi’s eyes, only to notice the wounds he got from the fight. Slowly, he lifted a hand and pressed it to Wakatoshi’s jaw, thumb sweeping gently over the dark bruise that was slowly forming on his skin. His bottom lip was cut as well, dark red with blood that trailed down his chin, mixing with the blood coming from a cut on his cheek.

“You need to go to the nurse,” he said, backing away a step.

Wakatoshi tilted his head to one side like a confused puppy, and asked, “What for?”

“For your injuries of course! What else?”

He hadn’t noticed that he had been hurt, with the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he threw punch after punch, but when his tongue darted out, the taste of copper could only belong to blood. There was a dull throb of pain in his hands too. Looking down, Wakatoshi stared at his bruised knuckles, red from the force of which he used them with. The skin on some of his knuckles had split open as well, welling up slowly and making a mess of his hands.

It wasn’t anything major. He had had much worse before.

Wakatoshi looked back up at Ai and shrugged. “It’s fine. It’ll heal on it’s own so don’t worry about it, alright?”

Ai narrowed his eyes into a glare. “We’re going to the nurse.”

“No, I’m fine-”“ _We’re going. To. The nurse_ ,” Ai repeated, voice turned to steel, cold and hard and strong.

Cupid wasn’t just a small boy flying around making people fall in love, Wakatoshi thought, but a fundamental cause of the formation of the world. Cupid was immortal and eternal, the cause and solution to wars and peace. Cupid was the strongest god no matter how often he got overlooked.

Ai carried the legend of a god in his mortal body, bearing the burden with bones of marble. Wakatoshi wondered if he ever stood a chance against him as Ai bodily dragged him to the nurse’s office with an iron grip.

Haruka-sensei was gone when they got there, so Ai took it onto himself to patch up Wakatoshi. He managed to make Wakatoshi sit on one of the beds with a single pointed look, hard like stone and promising more pain if he didn’t comply. Wakatoshi was quick to do as ordered, and watched as Ai opened cabinets and rummaged around.

When he went back to Wakatoshi, his arms were full of supplies, such as: a bowl with water and a small towel, a box of bandages, antiseptic, and a roll of gauze. He carefully set it down on the table besides the bed, then turned to Wakatoshi.

“I need you to take off your shirt.”

Wakatoshi’s face pinkened as he sputtered. “What? Why?”

“So I can treat any injuries there!” Despite his loud, unfazed tone, the tips of Ai’s ears were turning red and he couldn’t quite look Wakatoshi in the eye.

There was a moment of stillness; time inside the office had frozen as they waited for something, anything to happen.

Wakatoshi caved. He looked away and began to unbutton his shirt, once white but now stained with dirt and blood. He shrugged his shoulders back, wincing when the movement pulled at the bruise on his ribs. Ai was quick to help remove the rest of the shirt, not wanting Wakatoshi to be in any more pain. He shook it out and placed it to the side before turning back to his patient to assess the rest of his injuries.

Compared to his torso, Wakatoshi’s face was tame. The small cuts and single bruise paled in comparison to the  dark watercolor of bruises that decorated his skin. A large black and purple bruise blossomed on Wakatoshi’s right ribs, large and dark as a thundercloud. Another few bruises dotted his chest, dancing along his collarbone. Right beneath his right rib was another bruise with a sluggishly bleeding cut on top of it.

Ai couldn’t help but wince in sympathy at the sight. He stared a moment longer, wondering why Wakatoshi was willing to get so hurt for him, and wishing he had just stayed out of it so he wasn’t so injured.

Taking in a calming breath, Ai brought his focus back to the task on hand and reached for the bowl and towel.

“I’m going to cut up your cuts first, then put on some antiseptic. It may sting a little but I need you to bear with me. It’ll be over quickly,” he said, dipping part of the towel into the water.

He started with the cut on Wakatoshi’s cheek. Gently, he pressed the wet towel against the cut, apologizing when Wakatoshi flinched back, eyes narrowing in pain. Ai dipped the towel into the water again, distantly noticing the water taking on a red hue from the blood.

Ai couldn’t help but blush when he dragged the towel against Wakatoshi’s lip, cleaning it of blood. It had closed up, but still looked raw and tender. Any more pressure, and he feared that he would open it again.

Wakatoshi didn’t flinch when AI began cleaning the cut on his stomach. Instead, his hands curled into fists, clutching the bedding as Ai wiped away the blood then dabbed the wound to clean it of any dirt.

The water had turned red, and Ai quickly looked away from it when he returned it to the table.

He turned back to Wakatoshi holding bandages, gauze, and antiseptic that was eyed warily. Ai smiled apologetically when he held up the antiseptic, then applied it to his cuts, working as fast as he could while trying to ignore Wakatoshi hiss in pain.

Wordlessly, the cupid covered the cuts with bandages, and wrapped gauze around the bruise on his ribs. Once done, he backed away and began to return the supplies.    

Wakatoshi watched Ai move and thoughtlessly ran his fingers along the bandage covering the cut on his cheek. The student had rings, and if he had gotten any more hits in, there would have been even more blood. The thought of Ai getting hurt, covered in cuts and bleeding made him clench his fists, a protective fire lit within him.

“I’m glad it wasn’t you,” he said, breaking the silence and causing Ai to look at him, startled.

“What?”

Wakatoshi smiled. “I’m glad it wasn’t you who got hurt.”

Ai frowned, and drew himself up to appear taller, as strong and steady as a statue. “I wish it was me. He wouldn’t have hurt me as much as you.”

“But he still would have hurt you,” Wakatoshi countered. “Besides, I survived didn’t I? And I beat him.”

“I still feel bad for you getting hurt for me. If there’s any way I can repay you-”

Wakatoshi laughed. “You patched me up; I’d say we’re even. But if you want to, you can buy me something from the cafe.”

“Like a date?” Ai asked, a mischievous light in his eyes. Wakatoshi flushed red immediately, looking away and bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. Ai laughed at the sight and apologized. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just reflexive at this point.”

Shyly, Wakatoshi looked up at him, blue eyes framed by long eyelashes as he said, “I wouldn’t mind if it was a date.”

Though surprised, Ai smiled and walked back to Wakatoshi. “Tomorrow then?”

“Tomorrow’s fine.”

Leaning down, Ai pressed a kiss to Wakatoshi’s uninjured cheek. “A thank you kiss,” he explained at Wakatoshi’s questioning gaze.

Swallowing thickly, he nodded. “Right.”

Smiling gently, Ai stepped back and headed for the door. “I need to have Sou-kun fix my bow for me, so I need to go.”

“Right,” Wakatoshi repeated, watching Ai leave, dazed and light despite the dull throb of his injuries. Today hadn’t quite gone his way, but well.

Tomorrow was a new day, one that already was looking brighter.


End file.
